Local communications agency receives international award for work with former CN Rail Indigenous Advisory Council

Symmetry Public Relations wins second Gold Quill award for their work with the former Indigenous Advisory Council for CN Rail, who resigned early and en-masse last December.

April 29, 2024 – Saskatoon, SK – Last December, corporate Canada felt a shockwave as the Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) to CN Rail, co-chaired by Ms. Roberta Jamieson and Hon. Murray Sinclair, unanimously tendered their early resignation. Following the initial headlines describing CN Rail as having “‘missed the mark’ on reconciliation”, a conversation about the need for firms to take reconciliation seriously unfolded in the news, online, and across corporate Canada.

Behind the scenes, Saskatoon-based Indigenous-owned and -led communications and public relations agency Symmetry Public Relations worked closely with the IAC to help tell their story. For their work with the IAC, Symmetry Public Relations received an International Association for Business Communicators (IABC) 2024 Gold Quill Award of Merit in the category of Media Relations.

“Collaborating with Elizabeth, Ben, and Matthew from the Symmetry team truly demonstrated why they earned this Gold Quill Award,” says Leanne Bellegarde, K.C., who sat on the former Council. “The broader issue of tokenistic board representation for Indigenous Peoples is pervasive, and this announcement sparked discussions across LinkedIn among organizations and Indigenous professionals alike. For that reason alone, it was essential for us to partner with an Indigenous team – their professionalism, expertise, strategic insight, and exceptional results significantly benefited the Council.”

It wasn’t just the council who benefited from the project. Ben Borne, Founder, Communicator & Leader at Symmetry Public Relations spoke to how the project shaped his understanding of reconciliation in the Canadian workplace.

“I learned an important lesson from this project: It’s time to stop calling DE&I initiatives designed for Indigenous People a reconciliation action plan,” says Borne. “We have to rethink reconciliation as an opportunity to co-create and support the empowerment of Indigenous People – free from our own interests – toward making a relationship gone wrong right.”

For Communicator & Relationship Builder Elizabeth Bunney, the project held importance beyond the work itself.

“Rail has played a significant role in our shared traumatic colonized history. The Indigenous Advisory Council was incredibly brave to stand up for what mattered to Indigenous Peoples,” says Bunney. “We knew we had to get it right and I feel like that’s exactly what we did. I’m incredibly honoured and proud of our team and the impact we made with this project.” 

Matthew Hildebrandt, the trio’s youngest, spoke to the importance of the project in relation to his positionality as a settler and early-career communicator.

“As a settler born into colonialism and dedicated to decolonization, truth, and reconciliation, working with the former Indigenous Advisory Council to CN has been, and I suspect will remain, the professional honour of my life,” says Hildebrandt. “I’m immensely thankful to be learning from and working with such a spectacular team of award-winning professional communicators for clients committed to building a better future.”

Symmetry Public Relations will be recognized, alongside other Gold Quill award winners from around the world, on June 25 at the International Association for Business Communicators 2024 World Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

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About Symmetry Public Relations

Symmetry Public Relations is a Saskatoon-based, Indigenous-owned and -led public relations consultancy specializing in inclusive, diversity, equity and accessible (IDEA) storytelling and communications strategy, branding and creative, and training. Symmetry connects people to brand stories that build trust and strengthen communities, working towards a future where engaged, responsible and connected communities work together.

About The CN Indigenous Advisory Council

The CN Indigenous Advisory Council consists of 12 prominent, respected and accomplished Indigenous community members whose mandate was: to provide expert advice from Indigenous perspectives and lived experiences in addition to recommending concrete measures to CN on issues that might be referred to the IAC by CN or that might be raised by the IAC on its own volition, to advance CN’s Indigenous vision and build on its actionable commitment to diversity and inclusion by specifying policies and procedures that reflect those goals.

The creation of the IAC in no way relieved CN of its obligation to deal directly with First Nations, Inuit, or Métis leaders who are mandated to represent their people on matters that directly impact their communities.

About the Gold Quill Awards Program

For more than 40 years, IABC’s Gold Quill Awards have recognized and awarded excellence in strategic communication worldwide. The Gold Quill Awards honor the dedication, innovation and passion of communicators on a global scale with a focus on achieving solid business outcomes.

Since 2008, more than 5,000 projects have been entered in the Gold Quill Awards. The IABC Gold Quill Awards program recognizes business communication excellence globally, and is acknowledged as one of the most prestigious awards programs in the industry.

About IABC

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is the recognized global community of communication professionals representing diverse industries and disciplines. IABC connect communicators with a global and local network, career opportunities, resources and knowledge – using communication to engage, influence, counsel and execute. At the forefront of the communication profession and setting the global standard, IABC members are professionals who practice with integrity and passion.